Planning for new opportunities EmploymentCare Download free books at EmploymentCare Planning for new opportunities Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities © 2012 EmploymentCare & bookboon.com ISBN 978-87-403-0060-4 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Contents Contents Introduction 1 What does it take to land a new job? 1.1 Be proactive 1.2 Recognise the best in yourself 1.3 Learn from your experiences 10 1.4 Try something new 12 1.5 Set targets 12 1.6 Go the extra mile 13 1.7 Accept help from others 14 1.8 Job-hunting is a full-time job 1.9 Practical conditions 1.10 Step 1: Daily job-hunting timetable 360° thinking 2 The overall parameters for your job search 2.1 The overall parameters for your job search 2.2 Assignment 360° thinking 14 15 16 17 18 20 360° thinking Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth at www.deloitte.ca/careers © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities Discover the truth4at www.deloitte.ca/careers Click on the ad to read more Download free eBooks at bookboon.com © Deloitte & Touche LLP and affiliated entities D Planning for new opportunities Contents Your options and preferences 21 3.1 Considerations 22 3.2 Use your experience 26 3.3 How to proceed 27 3.4 Look back to look ahead 28 3.5 Your level of ambition 29 3.6 Your values 30 3.7 Put your dreams into words 31 3.8 Kickstart your dreams 31 3.9 Your innermost dreams 32 Increase your impact with MSM Executive Education For almost 60 years Maastricht School of Management has been enhancing the management capacity of professionals and organizations around the world through state-of-the-art management education Our broad range of Open Enrollment Executive Programs offers you a unique interactive, stimulating and multicultural learning experience Be prepared for tomorrow’s management challenges and apply today For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 or via admissions@msm.nl the globally networked management school For more information, visit www.msm.nl or contact us at +31 43 38 70 808 or via admissions@msm.nl Executive Education-170x115-B2.indd 18-08-11 15:13 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Introduction Introduction ‘Planning for new opportunities’ is a step-by-step booklet that helps you to understand what it takes to land a new job We will cover the overall parameters for your job search and you will gain an overview of your qualifications and options, so you approach your job search in a more clearly targeted manner Our vision is to make it easier for you and help you find a new job as quickly as possible Students that are about to graduate often don’t quite know how best to approach job-hunting Being a jobseeker can be very stressful, because there are so many things you need to Most people approach the task in a fairly disorganised manner and just muddle through ‘Planning for new opportunities’ structures the process from start to finish, so that you approach job-hunting one step at a time The process is built up in such a way that once you have completed all of the steps, you’ll have done everything possible to plan your job hunt and you are then ready to find your job At each step, you will acquire the knowledge and tools you need to find a job The idea is to help you get off to a good start and the steps to so are: • Step What does it take to get a new job? • Step The overall parameters for your job search • Step Your options and ambitions Each step consists of an explanatory text that provides in-depth information and guidance on how to approach the task at hand Once you have studied the text, you’ll be all set to carry out each task in practice Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities What does it take to land a new job? 1 What does it take to land a new job? In this first step we look at how to find a new job as quickly as possible Despite the financial crisis, new opportunities still pop up all the time in all sorts of companies Always bear in mind that it IS possible to find a new job Every company has people who hand in their notice, get promoted, take maternity or paternity leave, are on long-term sick leave and retire This creates vacancies that have to be filled as soon as possible New businesses start up all the time, and they need staff Some companies are doing very well and growing, so they regularly recruit new staff as well The big challenge for you as a jobseeker is to find these vacancies, write a good application and get the job To this, you have to: • be proactive and seek out opportunities • recognise the best in yourself – otherwise you won’t be able to pass it on to others • learn from experience – spend time on what works and produces results • be willing to ask others for help • be prepared to see job-hunting as a full-time job – albeit a temporary one If you accept these five points, you should be able to find a new job sooner or later In this step, you will read more about the above points, and what you have to to land a new job It’s important to realise that you are now your own boss Your job is to go out and sell a product to a company – that product consists of your qualifications and personality Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities 1.1 What does it take to land a new job? Be proactive Be prepared to be creative and proactive Job-hunting requires extra effort on all fronts Decide to be proactive and take full responsibility for your situation Don’t sit down and wait for your dream job to be advertised If you do, it may well be a long wait Think positively Think in terms of options rather than limitations Despite that it might be difficult to find a job it’s important that you look at the situation in a way that doesn’t affect your self-confidence – and therefore your search for a new job For many it is tough mentally to be a job seeker It’s important to be open about your state of mind – it’s OK to tell people that you don’t feel great Just make sure that negative thinking doesn’t come to dominate your job search – it may affect the tone of your applications, which will make it even more difficult to make a good impression and be called to an interview It’s quite normal that you sometimes feel discouraged and worried about the future This happens to us all You mustn’t feel that you’re the only person in the world who feels that way But it’s important that it doesn’t become a permanent state of mind You have to make a conscious effort to change your mood and keep faith in the idea that you will succeed A good way of keeping up your spirits is to put into words what you’re thinking and how you’re feeling Talk to somebody you know well – somebody who has a generally positive outlook on life, who is a good listener, and who is capable of providing input and making practical suggestions This will give you a boost and help you move on If you talk about it with somebody who has a negative attitude, you won’t move on You’ll both agree that things look bleak and you’ll get nowhere The trick is to turn to somebody you trust, someone who will help you move on – not hold you back The human psyche is such that if we have negative expectations for our future, then there is every likelihood that we will end up trapped in a negative spiral Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities What does it take to land a new job? Example: You see in the news that unemployment is rising and you think to yourself: ”I knew it! There’s no point looking for a job.” If you feel that way, when you see an ad for a job that is perfect for you, you won’t be especially motivated to spend a lot of time applying for it Your subconscious will already have absorbed the message that “there’s no point” You should always be acutely aware of what your subconscious is telling you, and try to maintain a positive attitude Look at it this way: You now have the chance to find a job where you can use your knowledge from your studies – and make a decent living! You should also come to terms with the fact that jobs don’t grow on trees and that you’ll have to put in a lot of effort if you are to succeed We will look at exactly how to achieve this in the later steps 1.2 Recognise the best in yourself We have a tendency to judge ourselves extremely harshly We see our failings and shortcomings instead of all the good things we have to offer When you are unemployed and looking for a job, it’s easy to think “I don’t have any training”, “I have gaps in my CV”, “I’m too young”, and so on But that will get you nowhere For a start, we’re all flesh and blood We all have our good and bad sides, things we’re good at and other things we’re not so good at, and life throws up new challenges all the time Job-hunting is “just” another challenge that we need to face and cope with You need to focus on your best features – even if they’re sometimes difficult to see through the black clouds hanging over you You need to convince yourself that you have fantastic qualities – both professional and personal – to offer your employer If you can’t see the good in yourself, you won’t be able to present it in your application or put it into words during an interview It’s essential that you learn to recognise the best in yourself and practise communicating it to others This should be the starting point for your search for a new job A good way of doing this is to ask other people, including former colleagues, to come up with observations about you – both positive and negative Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities What does it take to land a new job? Ask them “What am I like as a person?” or “What was I like as a fellow student?” This will give you an insight into what others think of you, which you can use when you have to “sell yourself ” in an application or interview “Hitting the wall” and feeling completely down about your situation is fairly natural A large part of our identity is associated with our work We are thinking, feeling people, so it’s only natural that we take it personally when we are having difficulties in finding a job It’s all too easy to feel that it will never end, that you are doomed to perpetual unemployment But remember – nothing lasts forever Something’s bound to turn up if you keep going and keep being proactive When you’ve been beaten down, the most important thing is that you get back on your feet Make no mistake, it IS hard when rejections arrive in a steady stream and interviews are few and far between Make sure you spend time with other jobseekers Read each other’s applications and help each other to write better and better ones as you learn what works and what doesn’t Share your experiences and tell each other what you’ve been up to since the last time you met You may even have heard of a company that it would be worth approaching with an unsolicited application Meeting up like this helps you build up the support network that’s so crucial to your well-being You’ll see yourself reflected in the experiences of others You’ll see that you’re not alone in the world; that others are just as frustrated as you 1.3 Learn from your experiences “If you what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” (Quote: Anthony Robbins) If you want to succeed in finding a new job, you have to be prepared to improve and adjust your job-hunting techniques and methods all the time 10 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences Your options and preferences Job-hunting is very much about having qualifications that you can “sell” to prospective employers But before you can that, you have to identify your qualifications and the type of jobs where they would be valuable Too many people apply for jobs for which they are not qualified As the rejections pile up, they end up feeling frustrated This can be avoided if you take the time to find out what you are capable of and what you would like to work with If you not know your most important qualifications, you will not be able to communicate them to prospective employers or know what types of jobs you have the best chance of an interview for It is therefore important that you put words to what you are capable of Once you have an overview of your qualifications, you can begin to consider whether you can use your qualifications in other types of jobs - or in a different way than in the past In this step, we will first describe how you find out what you are capable of and what qualifications you have 21 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences This involves you taking a step back and looking more closely at: • your work experience • your qualifications from previous jobs • your personal qualities • your pastimes • your job search in a wider perspective – looking forward Another good way of identifying your qualifications is to talk to people who know you really well They will be able to tell you about qualifications that you are probably not even aware that you possess For example, you could talk to former colleagues and ask them to describe you as a colleague and as a person, so you get to know about both your professional and personal sides During the next step in the process, you will once again be asked to answer a number of questions This may well take some time, because the point is to see yourself in the round, as a whole person In brief, you will gain an overview of your qualifications and options, so you approach your job search in a more clearly targeted manner 3.1 Considerations Based on your background, experience and personal attributes, you should think about defining the overall parameters for your future job Try to ask yourself the following questions: • Who are you? • How have you spent your life to date? • What skills you have? • What are your strengths and weaknesses in a work situation? • What you want? • What jobs are relevant to you? 22 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences Clarification Before you begin your job search, we recommend that you spend some time trying to clarify what is the right job for you Clarification is about becoming aware of yourself, your values, skills and level of ambition This ensures that your job search will be focused and increases the chance of finding a job that is right for you Use your past experience to define: • your needs and expectations for your future job • what type of job you want • what type of business or industry you want to work in • the types of job in which you thrive, professionally and personally • what type of people you work best with • whether you are individually- or team-oriented • your level of ambition – now and in the long term • any areas in which you could improve your professional competences, e.g through training courses/ educational programmes Work experience A good place to start is to look at your work experience if you have worked while studying Through your previous jobs you have built up a large amount of experience - both human and professional Try to make a list of the sectors in which you have worked, and whether you have experience of a specific industry that might serve you well in the future What jobs have you had? What jobs did you particularly like, and what was it that made you not like the other ones as much? Focus on the content of the jobs you’ve had and map out the qualifications you’ve used along the way This will give you an idea of what to look for in your future job 23 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences Type of company You should also consider the type of company you would most like to work for Big or small, for example? Think about the type of workplace culture in which you personally thrive Should it be a very formal and traditional corporate environment? Or perhaps a less hierarchical organisational structure? There are advantages and disadvantages to both In a more formal business, your position and your duties are very much defined, so you are well acquainted with the parameters within which you work However, in a company with a less hierarchical structure, you define your own job content to a much greater extent, and it will probably change all the time The type of company in which you thrive therefore depends very much on what you are like as a person and whether you prefer your job to have a lot of structure, or very little You know yourself best, so it’s up to you to identify the parameters of your next job Do yourself a favour and be as honest as possible It’s too short-sighted to say that you can live with this or that, only for it to end up being a source of stress and having a negative impact on your working life You should make up your mind in advance about the kind of working day you want in your next job Turning a challenge into a learning curve Just another day at the office for a high performer Accenture Boot Camp – your toughest test yet Choose Accenture for a career where the variety of opportunities and challenges allows you to make a difference every day A place where you can develop your potential and grow professionally, working alongside talented colleagues The only place where you can learn from our unrivalled experience, while helping our global clients achieve high performance If this is your idea of a typical working day, then Accenture is the place to be It all starts at Boot Camp It’s 48 hours that will stimulate your mind and enhance your career prospects You’ll spend time with other students, top Accenture Consultants and special guests An inspirational two days packed with intellectual challenges and activities designed to let you discover what it really means to be a high performer in business We can’t tell you everything about Boot Camp, but expect a fast-paced, exhilarating and intense learning experience It could be your toughest test yet, which is exactly what will make it your biggest opportunity Find out more and apply online Visit accenture.com/bootcamp 24 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences Your qualifications Try to review the various posts you’ve held What new qualifications did you acquire from them? A good way of doing this is to list the specific duties for each of your previous jobs Look at your old job from an outsider’s perspective Imagine you have to describe it to somebody who has no idea what the job entailed Get it all down –it’s better to write too much than too little Later, you will select the most appropriate qualifications in order to write more targeted CVs Here, too, we recommend that you use others in your circle as sparring partners Perhaps a friend or former colleague They will almost certainly remember qualifications that you’ve overlooked or taken for granted Once you have a complete list of your qualifications, you will be in a better position to assess your options The trick is to broaden your horizons and think in terms of new opportunities – perhaps now is the time to try something completely new, if that’s what you would like to Discuss your options with other people They will probably suggest things that you haven’t even considered Other people are often able to spot opportunities and openings because they see you in a different light than you see yourself They might say “Well, you’d be the perfect receptionist”, “You’re really good with people – have you considered working in customer service?” or “You seem to be somewhat stuck in your council job and you’re clearly looking for a completely different direction Have you considered becoming, for example, an executive secretary in a private company?” or something else that you hadn’t thought of Some of it may be inspiring, some of it you’ll just shrug off, but all of it will help you to form an overall impression of your own competences and consider whether you might like to work with any of their suggestions in the future 25 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences Your personal qualities You now know all about your professional qualifications The next step is to look at your human qualities If you were to describe your personal qualities purely in terms of work, what would be your best characteristics? Identify all the positive things about you as a person that are also advantageous in the workplace For example, maybe you are service-minded or helpful, or good at working on your own It’s important to include these qualifications and articulate them properly – otherwise you won’t be able to communicate them to a potential employer Your pastimes However, it is not only at work that we acquire and develop our personal and professional qualifications You may have picked up qualifications in your free time that you can use in your job search If, for example, you have been active in the guide movement or a local sports club, then you have experience with children and young people that might be useful if you opted for a job involving kids You have experience of teaching methods and you are used to being part of a team It is important to include these qualifications in your application – if, that is, they are relevant to the job concerned Try to look at your pastimes again – you may have overlooked useful qualifications 3.2 Use your experience The fact that you are looking for a job gives you the chance to find one in which you will thrive Incredibly, many of us have had jobs where this was not the case Now that you have the chance, we recommend that you start to look more closely at the good and bad aspects of your previous work experience Use these experiences to define what it will take for you to feel good about your job and enjoy going to work Most of us are good at expressing what we are dissatisfied with – and especially what we absolutely will not stand for – but we forget to define what it is we want or dream about Whether you are good or bad at focusing on what you want rather than what you are unhappy with, it is necessary that you change your attitude and mental approach to work You owe it to yourself, your colleagues and your family to be happy and satisfied with your working life To move forward, you must learn from your experiences and use them in a constructive way 26 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities 3.3 Your options and preferences How to proceed A good way to start is to list everything you’ve been unhappy with in your previous jobs This will help you define what you don’t want in the future It’s a good idea to work through the list several times to make sure you get it ALL down Then try to turn each statement into something positive and constructive by writing down what you would prefer instead What would it take for you to be satisfied? Before you start to work with the positive list, bury the “list of moans” Have a good look at your original list and reflect upon what your life has been like so far Decide that this is all in the past, and then rip the list to pieces (It may sound a little childish, but it works!) Imagine that you move into a new house and you think the walls are a really ugly colour You have two options: you can choose to keep the colour in the hope that one day you’ll find the time to repaint Or you can choose to take action immediately and paint the house in colours that make you feel good If you delay the process, you’ll come home every day to the same ugly colours and think “I hate this house” Act immediately and you’ll enjoy a home that has your personal touch Similarly, you have to deal with what has made you unhappy in your professional life so far Do this by extrapolating on each statement on the positive list The Wake the only emission we want to leave behind QYURGGF 'PIKPGU /GFKWOURGGF 'PIKPGU 6WTDQEJCTIGTU 2TQRGNNGTU 2TQRWNUKQP 2CEMCIGU 2TKOG5GTX 6JG FGUKIP QH GEQHTKGPFN[ OCTKPG RQYGT CPF RTQRWNUKQP UQNWVKQPU KU ETWEKCN HQT /#0 &KGUGN 6WTDQ 2QYGT EQORGVGPEKGU CTG QHHGTGF YKVJ VJG YQTNFoU NCTIGUV GPIKPG RTQITCOOG s JCXKPI QWVRWVU URCPPKPI HTQO VQ M9 RGT GPIKPG )GV WR HTQPV (KPF QWV OQTG CV YYYOCPFKGUGNVWTDQEQO 27 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences This exercise may be a bit of a challenge For example, if you have written “I want a good boss”, then you’ll need to describe what you mean by “good” in this context Be more specific, e.g “A boss who respects me and whom I respect.” “A boss who is always close at hand A good sparring partner One who can give me constructive feedback on my daily work.” “A manager who delegates responsibility to the staff ”, etc 3.4 Look back to look ahead Another example might be that you might have written “I want a working day where I feel happy and satisfied.” But you must try to define what will it take for you to feel happy and satisfied Being happy and content is an abstract desire A cat that gets a tin of tuna is both happy and contented, but most people expect a little more Articulate it If it still seems difficult to describe happiness in words, try to think back to job situations where you actually felt happy Try to analyse the facts and circumstances that defined that job and meant that you felt good about the situation This exercise may take a while, but that’s OK Think of it as an evolutionary process It’s about finding what it will take to help guarantee happiness Given that you’re looking for a job anyway, you might as well try to find the best one possible After describing what you want in specific and tangible terms, the next step is to structure the content One way to this is to divide the list into sections, e.g “job content”, “boss”, “colleagues”, “workplace culture”, etc Now you know what you’re looking for You’ve now used your negative experiences as the basis for an overview of what you want to replace them with You know exactly what you want from your next job and the requirements and criteria that must be met before you’ll be able to thrive and be happy So you’re now ready to start looking for a new job that’s consistent with your wishes and expectations The list you’ve drafted means that you’ll be easily able to assess the potential positions that you encounter Not just when you read an advertisement, but also when you attend interviews 28 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences The important thing is to remember that you don’t want to take a job at any cost Use the list to help you determine whether the job you’ve applied for or been interviewed for is one in which you’d thrive Most people can – if they pay attention to the signs – sense whether they’re interested just because they want any old job, or because they really believe that they’d thrive in this one You may discover during this analysis phase that your past work situations keep coming back to you It may be that you often end up having problems with colleagues with a particular personality, or with bosses who treat you in a certain way, or perhaps you have trouble saying no, or you have a tendency to feel bitter that you are “rewarded” for being the fastest in the department by having to pick up other people’s slack, etc If you recognise some of the examples above – or similar situations – we recommend that while you’re between jobs you spend some time working on breaking out of these patterns No one else can change them for you You may even benefit from consulting a life coach in order to deal with recurring patterns The point is to take advantage of the fact that you will soon have a new job, where you can start afresh, in order to improve your ability to handle things you have struggled with previously However, no matter how well you your homework, your dream job will not necessarily come up immediately But when it does, you’ll be ready – because you know exactly what you’re looking for Conversely, it also demonstrates particularly good discernment and personal strength to say no to a job that you know will draw you back down into a negative spiral of discontentment 3.5 Your level of ambition It’s a good idea to see your job search in a broader perspective Ask yourself how you imagine your working life in 5–10 years Do you envisage that you will keep doing the same as you used to do, or would you like to try something new? And if you think that you would like to change direction, perhaps you should start taking steps now to steer you towards this goal 29 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities 3.6 Your options and preferences Your values We also recommend that you spend some time reflecting on the values that are most important to you What is important to you? At this particular point in your life, what you prioritise most – your career or your family? Do you dream of a completely different career, or you still harbour ambitions in the field in which you’ve been working? Please note that values are variable They may change depending on what stage you’re at in your life If you’ve just had children, your family is likely to take priority over your work Later, when the kids are bigger, your perspective may change as you begin to prioritise your career over being a parent Now that you’re a jobseeker, this may be your first and last chance to stop and think about what you really want to with your life What you dream about? As children, we are good at fantasising But many of us lose that ability with age, as logic and rationality take over at the expense of imagination and dreams But dreams have an important function: they tell us something about what we really want and what we want to achieve in life By being aware of our dreams, we create a useful beacon to guide us To coin a proverb: “If you can dream it – you can it.” From a purely psychological perspective, our brains are structured in such a way that our dreams are on the same level as our abilities Brain power By 2020, wind could provide one-tenth of our planet’s electricity needs Already today, SKF’s innovative knowhow is crucial to running a large proportion of the world’s wind turbines Up to 25 % of the generating costs relate to maintenance These can be reduced dramatically thanks to our systems for on-line condition monitoring and automatic lubrication We help make it more economical to create cleaner, cheaper energy out of thin air By sharing our experience, expertise, and creativity, industries can boost performance beyond expectations Therefore we need the best employees who can meet this challenge! The Power of Knowledge Engineering Plug into The Power of Knowledge Engineering Visit us at www.skf.com/knowledge 30 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences The difference is that nothing tangible comes of dreaming To succeed, it’s necessary for us to act upon our dreams Ask yourself: “If you did not feel constrained by everyday norms, but could define your professional life entirely according to your wishes, how would it look?” Some see this as a slightly provocative and dangerous question – which is intentional on my part – but mostly I get no answer or “I’ve never really thought about it ” OK, but try Now! 3.7 Put your dreams into words As adults, we should allow ourselves to dream We shouldn’t consider it a waste of time, because dreams often help guide us in the right direction I would venture that anyone who can find and cultivate his or her dream will automatically be able to overcome every obstacle he or she encounters on the way to fulfilling it Dreams are a powerful force that opens up our inner resources Spend 5–10 minutes writing down everything that you dream of in your professional life Here, it’s important to really let rip – don’t listen to the inner naysayer who whispers “It can’t be done because ” Put yourself above that Try to think big Don’t hold back Let your imagination run wild Try to picture yourself in different roles Don’t be constrained by norms and common sense 3.8 Kickstart your dreams If you find it difficult to get started, it may be helpful to look back to your childhood and adolescence and remember what you used to dream that life would bring If that’s too overwhelming, ask yourself the following questions: • What would your ideal career look like? • Do you want to make a difference? • Do you dream of fame and fortune? • What kind of work you dream of doing? 31 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences • What gives your life meaning? • What would you regret not to have accomplished when you retire? • What is it that really interests you? • Do you want to run your own business? • Do you want to be a CEO? Drop any kind of modesty when you answer the questions Think big, be a little crazy – and daring! It won’t you any harm 3.9 Your innermost dreams Once you have articulated your dreams, the next step is to weed them out a little bit Life is such that everything has its time For example, if you dreamed of becoming a professional footballer but you haven’t played actively for several years, you should probably give up that dream If the dream had been that important to you, then you’d probably already have done something about it You may find that some things are not an expression of your dreams, but rather the outside world’s and society’s wishes or dreams on your behalf In other words, they don’t actually represent your innermost dreams, but visions inflicted upon you, i.e something that others think will be good for you Bearing this in mind, go back over the list and remove those dream that are not 100% your own – here, again, it pays to be honest This will leave you with a number of points on the list that should fill you with energy and enthusiasm, because they represent what you ideally want to be or work with Formulate the individual points in such a way that they become a coherent storyline – or set of general parameters – that describe how you want your career and your life to be Note how this makes you feel An accurate picture of your dream You have now created an accurate and vivid picture of what it is you want This is your dream and your vision It will enable you to focus your efforts in a positive manner, because you have found your guiding star and your direction in life This in itself is a milestone, but it is also a new challenge, because you don’t yet know the path in detail – and you still need courage and an open mind Assignment In this assignment you’ll discover: • What I am capable of (my professional background) • Who I am (my personal qualities and leisure interests) • What I want (my job options) 32 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Your options and preferences My professional background Question1 What industries have I worked in? Question2 What jobs have I had in the past? Question3 What duties did these jobs entail? Question4 What have I really enjoyed working with? Question5 What qualifications did I gain from the job? Question6 How might these qualifications be deployed in other types of jobs and industries? My personal qualities Question7 What am I like as a colleague and employee? Question8 What are my strengths? Question9 What personal qualities would I like to improve (my weaknesses)? Question10 What does it take for me to thrive as a person in a job? 33 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities Question11 Your options and preferences Do I prefer working alone or in a group? Question12 Is it important for me to have a say in my work? Question13 Do I prefer fixed duties and knowing exactly how things are done? Question14 Is it important for me to have plenty of time to my work? My leisure interests Question15 What are my leisure interests? 34 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Click on the ad to read more Planning for new opportunities Question16 Your options and preferences Are any of the skills I use in my leisure time transferable to the job market? Based on ‘Who I am’ and ‘What I am capable of ’, you’ll now look at ‘What I want’ and therefore, what job options you have: My job options Question17 What type of business or industry I want to work in? Question18 What requirements and expectations I have of my next job? Question19 What type of job I want? Question20 Any areas in which I could improve my professional competences, e.g through training courses/ educational programmes Question21 What is my level of ambition – now and in the long term? Question22 My job options – 1st priority Question23 Other options 35 Download free eBooks at bookboon.com ... to read more Planning for new opportunities Introduction Introduction Planning for new opportunities is a step-by-step booklet that helps you to understand what it takes to land a new job We...EmploymentCare Planning for new opportunities Download free eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities © 2012 EmploymentCare & bookboon.com ISBN... eBooks at bookboon.com Planning for new opportunities What does it take to land a new job? 1 What does it take to land a new job? In this first step we look at how to find a new job as quickly as